it's all in your hands...

[notachickenhawk]

Characters: Tobias and you!
Setting: Room 1-10 and surrounding rooms, Floor 32 ("Earth" forest), Floor 1 (Cafeteria)
Format: Either.
Summary: Tobias wakes up and attempts to figure out what's going on.
Warnings: None I can think of. Suspicious birdface?


[Room 1-10]

Tobias bolts awake, wings flapping, because part of his brain has sensed that this is an enclosed space and he needs to get out. He screeches and flips himself up off the bed, hawk instincts screaming at him that he needs to get out!

He flies towards the door, and lands on the knob, trying to turn it. Out out out he has to get out!

Someone might want to try to calm down the panicking bird with a green collar on.



[Floor 32]

Finally, he's found something that looks familiar. Tobias wheels off from the stairs to go head into the forest. He needs some food, and he needs to rest his wings. But something's wrong.

The instant he leaves the staircase, he heads into a dive. It's uncontrolled, and he screeches. Tobias flaps his wings desperately, trying to get himself to fly - but he crashes into the ground, stunned. It'll take a few moments to get himself back to enough of a mental state to try to hop back towards the staircase.



[Floor 1]

A quick peek at this level had revealed it was a cafeteria, and while he's suspicious this place seems built for humans. So Tobias had flown up to the level above and morphed human - finding himself in a skintight white suit. He's not even going there right now, but he heads downstairs (barefoot), squinting a bit at terrible human sight.

When he gets down there, though, he freezes. He hasn't been in a cafeteria in years. And yeah, this isn't a school cafeteria, but he doesn't know the rules. Someone might want to get him to move - he's blocking the stairs.

Comments

[notachickenhawk]

... Okay sure. Something can kill the weird wizard thing that lives outside of space-time.

[Most deadpan ever. But he does sit down.]

Ugh. Okay. Say that all of this is true. What kind of 'rescue' is this supposed to be?

[bloodyashes]

Same thing that killed a sentient manifestation of sound energy.

[It's delivered just as deadpan. Asch is a master at this.]

It's a rescue in name only. The administrators use their "guests" as toys and labrats.

[notachickenhawk]

[That part doesn't even make him blink. We're not playing the weirdness game.]

Reminds me of someone...

[He shudders, and takes a deep breath.]

... Great. Anything specific or just general messing with our heads?

[bloodyashes]

[Oh he caught that, shudder and quiet words both.]

This month's administrator, Jason, favors surgeries warping bodies and minds. The other one you have to worry about is Ruana - she's the one who plays "games," and probably the most dangerous.

[At the very least, Jason's scared of her. Good enough reason for the rest of them to be on guard, too.]

There's no point trying to figure out what to expect from her. Of the remaining admins, Riki is mild and Zo is almost helpful.

[notachickenhawk]

Crazy surgeries? No thanks. I've seen the results of those kinds of things before.

[The 'games' quote makes him actually growl a little.]

People like that are the worst.

[Moving on, though...]

... I doubt I'm the first to say this, but how about getting information from those two?

[bloodyashes]

Too bad they're not optional.

[Yeah he could do without Jason in his life too.]

Riki won't talk any more than the other two do. Zo is a child, and as much as he likes to help us he doesn't know terrifically much.

[notachickenhawk]

... We'll see.

[Morphing and getting away is an option. Who's gonna be able to catch him as a fly? Or as an Andalite? ... He's not going Taxxon though. Never again.]

Yeah, but you might be able to get him to get information from the others.

[Much as he hates involving kids...]

[bloodyashes]

I wouldn't count on it. Ruana's the closest thing he has to a parent these days.

[Dax was a better dad. RIP admindad.]

You should be warned that a lot of the floors are deadly as well, although it doesn't last.

[notachickenhawk]

Great...

[He's dealt with deadly before, but -]

Deadly how? And what do you mean 'it doesn't last'?

[bloodyashes]

Depends on the floor. Some throw monsters at you, some lull you into a sleep you never wake from, and some are just hazards of environment, like the volcano.

[Walking through magma is a life hazard for sure.]

And i said exactly what I meant. Death isn't permanent - you get a new body to wake up in the next day.

[notachickenhawk]

[... Uh.]

How is that possible?

[bloodyashes]

[It's okay, at least you're not in denial.]

Technically speaking, all that was taken from anyone's world is their souls. Our bodies are replacements, and any time they stop functioning, the soul is moved to a new body.

[notachickenhawk]

[Okay this soul thing. Seriously? - wait a sec. Right.]

Transferring a consciousness between two bodies... oh.

[He puts his face in his hands for a moment, taking a deep breath before looking up again.]

Right. Okay. Sure. Anything else?

[bloodyashes]

[...Okay. There's calm and then there's a kid who's clearly seen some shit, and this is the latter. Even the Tower residents who measured their stay in years had at least freaked out a little, not accepted it so calmly.]

You're taking it well.

[That's code for "I don't know what you are but you're something."]

The bodies themselves are actually wire frames filled with fluid that contains the soul. All the rest -

[He draws a hand through his hair for emphasis.]

- is a complicated illusion referred to as the glamour system. Almost everything in the place is glamour except these -

[A tap to the collar]

- these -

[The nutrition bars.]

The staircase and a tree in the top floor below the dorms.

I don't know if people from the world you're from have supernatural powers - [Although the green collar is a sign that the kid isn't exactly normal.] - but most of the residents do. They all function by means of the glamour, meaning that there's some floors where they outright don't work, and the administrators can turn them off as they see fit.

[notachickenhawk]

[Okay now that makes him go quiet for about ten seconds. He pokes at his oatmeal with his spoon, thinking this over. Like the Anti-Morphing Ray? But that hadn't worked. Or maybe it had but didn't affect him. But if he couldn't morph...]

[... Wait.]

Supernatural powers are common here? Like what, we've entered Dungeons and Dragons territory?

[bloodyashes]

[Yeah, he's definitely more than he seems. Not to the point that Asch is going to call him out yet - not until he's got more of an idea what he's calling out.]

I have no idea what that is, but yes, they're quite common. The further you go towards the purple collars, the more likely it is that someone has them.

[He's kind of obviously violet.]

[notachickenhawk]

[Okay, seriously? This guy looks like a LARPer and hasn't heard of Dungeons and Dragons? He's pretty clearly not from Earth.]

Are we talking like power over flames but kind of low level like Pyro or massive psychic powers like Professor Xavier?

[bloodyashes]

[He hasn't heard of any of those people, either, which shows on his face.]

Both. Everything in between, everything above and below.

[One thing you gotta say for the Tower, it has variety.]

[notachickenhawk]

... Right. So what about you?

[Well, he did say that colors more towards purple were more likely to have them.]

[bloodyashes]

[And an appraising glance at the green collar, with a hint of a smirk.]

You first.

[notachickenhawk]

[He widens his eyes, trying to look surprised. It doesn't work so well when his expression doesn't otherwise change much.]

What makes you think I have powers?

[bloodyashes]

After your world being destroyed, it's the subject you had the most reaction to in this conversation.

[You tried, Tobias. You tried hard.]

You swallowed changing bodies without the slightest bit of concern, as though you had some experience in the subject. You have some way of taking vengeance against someone who might destroy your world in more normal circumstances. You admitted to contact with a semi-omnipotent being.

[He folds his arms, pushing away a last bit of nutrition bar on the plate.]

And greens usually have something, even if it's not terribly impressive.

[Tower oldbie.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He's quiet for a few long moments. He's stuck. He could deny it, but the truth's obvious. The area around them is mostly empty right now, and he'd rather not make a scene right now.]

[He pulls his knees up to his chest, and closes his eyes. A feather pattern appears on his skin, and he quickly shrinks, bones and body parts melting and extending until there's a bird sitting on the bench, staring at Asch.]

[He considers going Hork-Bajir but no. Not now. He just glares in the redhead's direction.]

<Satisfied?>

[bloodyashes]

[It says something that he doesn't flinch from the warping of flesh, although the mental voice gets a raised eyebrow. Seems a bit much for a greenie.]

You could have just said so.

[You probably don't want to try eating the oatmeal like that, though.]

[notachickenhawk]

<Yeah, because this is so believable.>

[He takes a few moments to catch his 'breath', before morphing back to human. Thumbs are useful right now.]